CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS. 



was then i)lace(i on the top, and the young plants set out at 18 inches distance all over tlie 

 bed.' They were then buried in a few inches of rich soil. 



" Leaving the reader to compare this mode of forming a bed with the French and common 

 English methods, we would invite attention to the following considerations, which greatly 

 concern gardeners, now that the season of forming iVsparagus beds is at liand. The 

 grower of this vegetable ought to recollect that the two points of excellence in it are first 

 size^ and sound succulence. It should be thick as the thumb and brittle as glass. To secure 

 this result two things are indispensable ; it must be produced by very vigorous plants, and 

 it must grow very fast. These two cardinal points must be considered separately. 



"Its vigor will depend upon the soil in which it grows, the quantity of manure it 

 receives, and its general treatment. The long stout succulent fangs, or roots, of an Aspara- 

 gus are so tender that they will not form freely in soil which oifers much resistance. 

 Nature places it in its wild state among sea sand, the most yielding of all earthly substances, 

 never becoming dry, never remaining loaded with stagnant water, but at every tide 

 receiving a supply of the saline particles that constitute an essential part of the food of the 

 plant. Under such circumstances the roots meet with no obstruction to their full develop- 

 ment. There is, however, no apparent necessity for sand ; what is really wanted is some 

 soft material, moistened with salt water, and so placed that while it is always wet, it will 

 never become water-logged. How unlike this is to the hard, coarse earth, so often used 

 for this plant we need not say. 



But the natural Asparagus is never large ; on the contrary, it is more like what is tech- 

 nically called ' sprue.' The cause of that is, we presume, to be sought in the want on the 

 sea shore of the powerful manure on which it greedily feeds, when it can obtain it. The 

 wild Asparagus has all that it requires for mere health ; but it is ill fed ; it diifers from the 

 fine garden plant just as lean kine]diffcr from fat bullocks. Feeding makes all, or great [)art 

 of the difierence. Experience shows that no manure is too strong for this plant ; its great 

 spongy roots can take up any quantity with advantage, if apfjlied at the right season. 

 That season is after it has begun to move in the spring ; applied at any other time the fat 

 oozy slime which it loves is absorbed without being assimilated, and soon produces a fatal 

 rot in the roots. Beside this, the plant must be cherished during summer while not under 

 the knife, for it is only thus that its vital powers can be much increased. No exuberance 

 of growth in the Asparagus stems can be regarded as excessive ; nothing should be done to 

 check it ; every branch that a plant is able to form should be anxiously preserved, and if 

 any means can be used to prevent the formation of berries, which we must remember is a 

 process of exhaustion, these means should be adopted, ])rovided always the little tliread-like 

 green leaves are in no way injured. Small as they are they conduce to the strength of the 

 Asparagus, as much as its broad leaves to a forest tree. Such precautions having been 

 taken, great buds, as large as acorns, will appear in clusters from the crown of the roots, 

 and out of them wiU rise gigantic shoots in the succeeding year. All these precautions 

 will, however, fail if the Asparagus is called upon to bear a crop befoi'e it is old enough. 

 Early bearing ruins plants as much as animals, and inevitably brings on premature debility. 

 The older it is before the cutting begins, the stronger, other circumstances being equal, will 

 it be found. The exhaustion attending the production of a crop one year should also be 

 made good by resting the Asparagus during the next year. In other words, giant Aspara- 

 gus can not be looked for if the bed is cut oftener than every other year. 



The Asparagus being brought to the requisite state of vigor, the next question is 

 ure the necessary succulence, which it never has beyond two or three inches 



